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One of my favorite restaurants to eat at is Outback Steakhouse. Outback was founded here in Tampa Florida in 1988. The original restaurant on Henderson Bouvelard is still open. I have so many favorites that I have tried and enjoyed the many years since I have been dining there. Their Salted Caramel Cookie Skillet is my latest favorite. The star is the cookie with white chocolate chips, toffee bits and pretzels. Just the cookies alone would be delicious. Outback changes their menu frequently so when I find something I like, I try to figure it out so I can enjoy it at home after it vanishes from the menu.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 stick butter, room temperature

6 Tablespoons granulated sugar

6 Tablespoons brown sugar

1 Egg

2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup white chocolate chips

3/4 cup toffee chips

1/2 cup pretzels, crushed into small pieces (I placed mine in a plastic bag and crushed them with a rolling pin)

Vanilla Ice Cream

Salted Caramel ice cream topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Whisk together flour, baking soda and salt in a separate bowl and set aside. Mix together softened, granulated and brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla and blend well. Gradually add dry ingredients and combine with wet ingredients. Stir in white chocolate chips, toffee chips and pretzels.

No skillet? No worries, just make a big cookie on a cookie sheet and eat it from a bowl when the cookie is baked. I highly recommend parchment paper or a silpat on your cookie sheet if you are just baking cookies.
Place cookie dough in a small cast iron skillet or make big cookies on a cookie sheet. Bake 8-11 minutes for normal size cookies. If you are making larger dessert size or skillet size cookies on a cookie sheet, they will take longer. I used a 6″ cast iron skillet and mine baked about 16 minutes. Time will vary with the size of cookies you make. Top with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream and salted caramel ice cream topping. Serve warm. This recipe yields 4 very large cookies. Enjoy!

I have done it again. I have hacked into another Outback Steakhouse recipe. This time it’s their new appetizer, Foster’s Beer Cheese Fondue. It’s served in a skillet with pretzel bread. I am serving my recipe in a skillet (thank you unnamed waiter at Outback that gave me one) and I am serving mine with pretzels and pretzel crisps. Love the combination of beer and cheese, which makes this Queso delicious. I am calling this recipe Queso because it’s nothing like fondue to me. You need just 5 ingredients to recreate this recipe. Enjoy the yumminess!

Ingredients:

4 ounces of Smoked Gouda, grated

4 ounces of Aged White Cheddar, grated

1/2 cup heavy cream, plus 1/4 cup reserved for slurry

1/2 cup Foster’s Beer*

1 Tablespoon of Cornstarch

Pretzels or pretzel crisps for dipping

Parsley for garnish, optional

In a saucepan heat 1/2 cup heavy cream, beer and grated cheeses. While the cheese is melting, make a slurry with 1/4 cup additional heavy cream and the cornstarch. Add this to the Queso when everything is melted. Make sure you whisk the cornstarch completely in the heavy cream to prevent lumps. Serve warm with pretzels, pretzel crisps, or your favorite dippers. Outback serves their “Foster’s Beer Cheese Fondue” with pretzel bread sticks, also good but very filling before meal. I actually do prefer the pretzel crisps.

*Foster’s Beer is an Australian beer, it comes in a very large can (nicknamed the oil can beer because of the size). I purchased one can at a convenience store.

Balsamic glaze (can be found in the vinegar section of the grocery store)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain peppers on paper towels until dry. Stuff open cavity with the goat cheese. Dip the top of the pepper coating the cheese with the bread crumbs. Place on baking sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes until the cheese is warn warm. Drizzle with balsamic glaze and enjoy.

This recipe was inspired by an appetizer I enjoyed several years ago at Macaroni Grill.

This is a copy cat recipe from the Australian steakhouse chain restaurant. This multipurpose sauce can be used with so many different things. I have used it on The Big O Burger and it’s perfect with onion rings, fries, veggies or anything you want. I have linked The Big O Burger and Crumbs In My Mustachio’s Beer Battered Onion Rings with this sauce. My burger and sauce are pictured with Crumbs In My Mustachio’s recipe for her onion rings.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons of ketchup
1 1/2 Tablespoons of creamy horseradish, I used Inglehoffers
One pinch of salt
One pinch of black pepper
1/8 teaspoon of chili powder, or more for more heat
1/8 teaspoon of dried oregano

Combine all ingredients and mix well. Best if made a day ahead. Store in refrigerator.

Recently I was asked if I had a recipe for hash browns like that good old country restaurant where you like to rock on the front porch, eat and shop after. This recipe is as close as I can get. Crunchy brown bottom, creamy inside and lightly browned on top. The flavor is almost identical. Great with breakfast or a meal. Please enjoy!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 pan with Pam. In a large skillet, add oil and combine hash browns and cheese. Stir over medium high heat until cheese has melted and hash browns are no longer frozen. The potatoes will still be white at this point.

While potatoes are cooking, in a microwave safe measuring cup, add butter, milk, stock and onion. Microwave about a minute or so until butter has melted. Remove from microwave and stir in salt and pepper.

Once hash browns are no longer frozen and cheese has melted, transfer hash browns in prepared 13 x 9 pan. Pour milk mixture over hash browns and stir to combine. Press with spatula to flatten out the hash browns. Don’t be concerned if this seems like it’s too much liquid. It will be absorbed by the potatoes.

Bake for 45 minutes. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting and serving. *I used package grated cheese because if I had grated it off the block, it would have been very greasy. I even blotted a little excess grease from the top of this casserole. Let me know what you think!

I love The Melting Pot. It actually started in Tampa, Florida. The first original restaurant is about 25 minutes away from my house. There are now franchised chains throughout the United States. I do believe I could go to the restaurant and make a meal from the swiss cheese fondue, followed by the chocolate fondue for dessert.